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Thursday, October 29, 2015

Synopsis:Nate Wildenstern's brother has been killed, and the finger is pointed at him . . . After nearly two years, eighteen-year-old Nate returns home to the family empire ruled by his father - the ruthless Wildenstern Patriarch. But Nate's life is soon shattered by his brother's death, and the Rules of Ascension, allowing the assassination of one male family member by another, means he's being blamed. He knows that he is not the murderer, but who is? With the aid of his troublesome sister-in-law, Daisy, and his cousin Gerald, he means to find out. But when the victims of the family's tyrannical regime choose the funeral to seek their revenge, they accidentally uncover the bodies of some ancient Wildenstern ancestors, one of whom bears a Patriarch's ring. The lives of Nate and his family are about to take a strange and horrifying turn . . .Interview with Oisin McGann:

1. Where did you get the idea for The Wildenstern Saga?

The original ideas came together, forming around the concept of a vampire-like family whose power came from money rather than blood, and avoiding all the usual vampire tropes. It was going to be a much more science fiction/fantasy world, but I wanted to appeal to a more mainstream audience. Sometimes you can entertain yourself by going really weird, but end up alienating readers. I realized the core ideas of the story would fit well in a Victorian world, but I didn’t want to lose the freedom and imagination that sci-fi/fantasy offers and I wanted to add more humour and a touch of chaos. That was when I brought in the engimals, the living machines, as a new thread, and wove them into the science of the story and the mythology of the world. I also wanted to avoid the usual English setting, so I set it in Ireland instead, which added a whole load of extra historical spice, as those were fiery times.

2. The series is set in Victorian Ireland and incorporates many aspects of steampunk. How did you become interested in steampunk? Do you participate in steampunk culture often?

I’ve always been fascinated with the Victorian contrast of civil and delicate manners against the grit and grime of the Industrial Revolution and the massive difference between rich and poor, between science and religion, between virtuous Christian values of a developing society and the beginning of a grinding factory society. It’s a fascinating period in history, which is why it attracts so much attention. Plus, of course, when I was growing up, Jules Verne was the granddaddy of science fiction (I didn’t read HG Wells until later in my life). I think there’s a nostalgia for that kind of sci-fi, because for many of us, the technology is still understandable and is very visual. Electronics have made tech almost magical, but has meant it can be almost any shape, which has led to many everday things ending up shaped like a very practical round-edged box (cars, phones, trains, radios and TVs). Steampunk is visually stimulating because it’s chunky and often ugly or ridiculously ornate, the shapes either dictated by the function or the décor of someone’s house – and it’s gorgeously funky because of all that. I don’t participate in the cosplaying or model-making, but there’s some really lovely stuff out there.

3. Engimals are engine-animal hybrids that can be tamed to work as machines in society. What’s your favorite engimal?

I suppose it would have to be Flash, the wild motorcycle Nate captures at the beginning of the book, but they were ALL fun to make. I think we’ve a funny relationship with machines; we can’t help treating them like animals – we shout at our computers, wrestle with our vacuum cleaners and have strange relationships with our cars. Creating machines that actually behaved like animals; a toaster that gets a thrill from having toast inserted in its back, or a bird that sings like a stereo, or a street-sweeper that can be led like a cow or sharp-edged, paper-like creatures that can fly and draw their power by basking in the sun . . . these all seemed a very natural step in a weird direction.

4. The Rules of Ascension are very harsh and taken very seriously in getting to the top of the family line. How did the idea for the Rules come about?

They were worked out pretty logically according to how I imagined a family like this would be governed. The aim is to create ruthless businessmen, to always increase the family’s wealth and power. So family life is shaped to breed predators and weed out the weak, allowing someone to kill someone in a superior position, as long as it conforms to the rules and no one outside the family finds out. As the family’s motto goes: ‘Suffer No Weakness’. If you take greed to its ultimate extreme, I figure this is what you’d get.

5. How long did it take you to write Ancient Appetites?

I plan ahead quite a bit, so when I start writing a book, I turn it out pretty fast and I like to have as finished a story as possible by the time I write ‘The End’ (I still write ‘The End’ – it gets taken out by the editor, but I still write it). That said, I’m normally working on two or three projects at a time, maybe more – though usually only one novel, unless I’m editing one and writing another. I think Ancient Appetites took about four or five months to write the first draft.

6. Ancient Appetites is set in 19th century Ireland. If you could live in any time period and any place, what/where would it be and why?

Oh, I’d visit other times, but I’d stay living right here. Vaccines, antiseptic, antibiotics, modern medicine and dentistry, the ability to travel, the access to information, human rights . . . we’re steadily making the world a better place. I do wish we hadn’t trashed our environment so badly, but there’s still hope there too. The past is lovely and all that, but it can stay right where it is. Certainly, you’d have to be an eejit to want to live in 19th century Ireland – most people had it pretty rough back then.

7. Do your three children influence your stories at all?

Mostly they distract me from my work, but yes, there are bits of them in the writing – that would be true of anyone I spend a lot of time with. We’re constantly influenced by the people and environment around us.

8. You’re both a writer and an illustrator. How do your creative processes differ for both?

I write imagining how I’d draw (or film) each scene and I’m constantly imagining dialogue and action while I draw. They’re two sides of the same coin for me. In fact, when I started teaching writing classes, which I still do, I’d never done any formal writing classes myself, I hadn’t learned any systematic steps, so my approach was the one I’d learned in art college; break everything into simple isolated elements, learn how to recreate those and how they fit together to make more complex things.

9. What young adult authors inspire you?

YA is more of a marketing thing than an audience thing. Writers who would have influenced me in different ways would include Terry Pratchett, Stephen King, Pat Mills (a UK comics writer), Tolkien, CS Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, Beatrix Potter, Roald Dahl, Willard Price, Alan Moore, Louis L’Amour, Craig Thomas, Agatha Christie and I loved books like Treasure Island, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Watership Down, The Wind in the Willows, The Iron Man, Pippi Longstocking and Moby Dick. I went through an Enid Blyton phase for a while, And then there was Jules Verne, of course.

10. What can you tell us about The Wisdom of Dead Men and Merciless Reason, the next books in the trilogy?

More of the same, but worse. By the time we get to Merciless Reason, things are really getting out of hand. The climax of that was a LOT of fun to write.

11. When you’re not writing or illustrating, what are some of your favorite hobbies?

I like walking in the mountains (though I’ve done less of that since our two youngest were born – the hills are still calling to me), I love films, reading and answering my children’s oddball questions. I travel around quite a bit, particularly in Ireland and I love seeing new places, but staying at home and getting jobs done on the house has become a bit of a treat. I like tinkering with stuff to figure out how it works. I was into martial arts for years and keep promising, when I’ve got the time, that I’ll get back into it. I still like a good fight scene, though I’m getting a lot less tolerant of the scripts of martial arts films now. Some of them are really shite. I have two dogs and a cat that demand a fair bit of my time too.

12. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Loads, but it wouldn’t fit here. Mainly, write what you love to read, so it will always be fun. Life’s too short for meeting other people’s expectations and this is too weird, frustrating and inconsistent a job to do if it’s not fun. I have no time for the perception of the miserable, tortured artist. Sod that, write what you love – all the rest is a bonus.

13. Do you think you have any similar characters to Nate Wildenstern, the main character in Ancient Appetites?

I think it’s important to make every character distinctive. I’d hope that every character I create is different from all the others. Part of the fun of writing is the challenge to make your characters interesting to write and it’s the only way to create that empathy in the reader.

14. Do you ever get writer’s block? How do you overcome it?

No, I really don’t. I think one skill a writer should train into themselves is the ability to observe and to make ideas out of the things around them. The world is FULL of stimulation for our brains, we only need to open ourselves up to it. I don’t believe in writer’s block as some kind of psychological affliction. If you get stuck in a story, find a way to make up something new or stop taking it so seriously and take a break and go and write something else. Don’t stop writing, just change what you’re doing. Everyone can get stuck, all the best writers do, but we do this for a living – you have to knuckle down and get on with it. If you can be beaten into submission by a blank page, you’re in the wrong job.

15. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

I’ve had loads of good advice, but one practical one is that my English teacher once asked me how sure I was of the end of my stories before I start writing. In a burst of light exploding in my brain, I realized that sometimes I hadn’t a clue how my stories ended and I COULD THINK AHEAD AND FIX THAT. Now, I have the ending of my story before I start writing. I can change it – it’s my story, I can do what I like – but it give me a direction to go and helps me maintain pace throughout. It doesn’t suit every writer, but it works for me.

16. Your books have elements of fantasy, science fiction, adventure, and mystery in them. What’s the most challenging part of combining so many genres into one cohesive story?

I try not to think in genres. I like a bit of weird in my stories, so they often have a sci-fi/fantasy/horror element to them – letting go with the imagination is just too much fun –but there still have to be clear rules for those unreal bits, so that there can be no magical escapes or easy answers. Nothing pisses a reader off worse than giving a character a convenient or lazy way out of a problem. I think that once you can create character, suspense and pace, you can bring them into any type of story, and the type of story is dictated by the setting and the challenges your characters face.

17. What’s your favorite bookstore?

I don’t have one – there are a number in Dublin that I’d visit regularly and we have a couple of good local ones, but my wife is a librarian, so I can order home delivery any time I want.

18. Which character did you enjoy writing most in Ancient Appetites?

I don’t have a favourite character (as you can gather, I don’t really do favourites much at all), but Gerald was cool to write; he has this dry wit that delivers some of the best lines, and Tatiana was great – someone once described her as ‘pathologically bubbly’ and that’s a pretty good description. She’s a ray of sunshine in a family of predators.

19. Who is your favorite literary character?

Aw, I don’t know. Bilbo Baggins or Gollum? Charley from Charley’s War? Long John Silver? It’s a bit like asking a parent who their favourite child is. There are already too many to choose and I still want to find more of them.

20. Are you working on anything currently?

I’m always, always writing. I’ve just finished the sequel to Rat Runners and I’m now working on another novel, a kind of near-future Cold-War-thriller with an environmental theme. I’m also pitching a few different younger kids’ projects to publishers, I’m tweaking some new editions of an existing series and I’m just wrapping up the last few pieces for a project where we were exploring climate change through storytelling, trying to find different, and more positive ways of portraying it and looking to the future. But I’m ALWAYS writing. I’ll do it until somebody stops me.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

The Rose and the Dagger (The Wrath and the Dawn #2) by Renee Ahdieh

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

I am SOOOOOO EXCITED for this book, it is unbelievable. The Wrath and the Dawn was honestly one of my favourite reads in 2015 so far and I know book number 2 will not disappoint. The cover is just as gorgeous as the first book. The waiting is killer! I wish the whole series came out at once.

Expected Publication Date: May 3rd, 2016

Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads)

The much anticipated sequel to the breathtaking The Wrath and the Dawn, lauded by Publishers Weekly as "a potent page-turner of intrigue and romance."I am surrounded on all sides by a desert. A guest, in a prison of sand and sun. My family is here. And I do not know whom I can trust.In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad has been torn from the love of her husband Khalid, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once believed him a monster, but his secrets revealed a man tormented by guilt and a powerful curse—one that might keep them apart forever. Reunited with her family, who have taken refuge with enemies of Khalid, and Tariq, her childhood sweetheart, she should be happy. But Tariq now commands forces set on destroying Khalid's empire. Shahrzad is almost a prisoner caught between loyalties to people she loves. But she refuses to be a pawn and devises a plan.

While her father, Jahandar, continues to play with magical forces he doesn't yet understand, Shahrzad tries to uncover powers that may lie dormant within her. With the help of a tattered old carpet and a tempestuous but sage young man, Shahrzad will attempt to break the curse and reunite with her one true love.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

We are so excited to bring you the Release Week Blitz for K.A. Tucker's SURVIVING ICE! SURVIVING ICE is a standalone romantic suspense novel and is the fourth book in K.A. Tucker's Burying Water Series, published by Atria, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Grab your copy today!

SURVIVING ICE Synopsis:The USA TODAY bestselling author of the Ten Tiny Breaths series and Burying Water—which Kirkus Reviews called “a sexy, romantic, gangster-tinged page-turner”—returns with a new novel packed with romance, plot twists, and psychological suspense.
Ivy Lee, a talented tattoo artist who spent the early part of her twenties on the move, is looking for a place to call home. She thinks she might have finally found it working in her uncle’s tattoo shop in San Francisco. But all that changes when a robbery turns deadly, compelling her to pack up her things yet again.
When they need the best, they call him. That’s why Sebastian Riker is back in California, cleaning up the mess made after a tattoo shop owner with a penchant for blackmail got himself shot. But it’s impossible to get the answers he needs from a dead body, leaving him to look elsewhere. Namely, to the twenty-something-year-old niece who believes this was a random attack. Who needs to keep believing that until Sebastian finds what he’s searching for.
Ivy has one foot out of San Francisco when a chance encounter with a stranger stalls her departure. She’s always been drawn to intense men, so it’s no wonder that she now finds a reason to stay after all, quickly intoxicated by his dark smile, his intimidating strength, and his quiet control.
That is, until Ivy discovers that their encounter was no accident—and that their attraction could be her undoing.

And don’t miss the previous titles in the Burying Water Series!

BURYING WATER

BECOMING RAIN

CHASING RIVER

About K.A. Tucker:
Born in small-town Ontario, K.A. Tucker published her first book at the age of six with the help of her elementary school librarian and a box of crayons. She currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and an exhausting brood of four-legged creatures.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Welcome to this week's Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga`s Reviews. It features books I bought or received for review each week. It is about adding books to my book shelf whether it by physical, virtual or audio. Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

White Hot (Hidden Legacy #2) by Ilona Andrews

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This book was originally releases this month but it got pushed back to 2016 and I am so bummed about it. I listened to the first book, Burn for Me, in audiobook version which was great. The beginning was a little slow but after that a lot happened. Certain parts I replayed over and over again. Overall I really enjoyed Burn for Me and I am really excited to see where the story goes.

Expected Publication Date: June 2016

Synopsis: (Taken from Goodreads)

It is listed on the website as late spring/early summer 2016

Nevada Baylor has a unique and secret skill—she knows when people are lying—and she's used that magic (along with plain, hard work) to keep her colorful and close-knit family's detective agency afloat. But her new case pits her against the shadowy forces that almost destroyed the city of Houston once before, bringing Nevada back into contact with Connor "Mad" Rogan.

Rogan is a billionaire Prime—the highest rank of magic user—and as unreadable as ever, despite Nevada's "talent." But there's no hiding the sparks between them. Now that the stakes are even higher, both professionally and personally, and their foes are unimaginably powerful, Rogan and Nevada will find that nothing burns like ice . . .

Monday, October 19, 2015

We’re so excited to bring you the release day A Moment of Weakness by Brooklyn Skye. This is a great new contemporary romance! Brooklyn is sharing an excerpt and giveaway with us, so be sure to check it all out!

A Moment of Weakness Synopsis: Until her new job starts in September, buttoned-up elementary school teacher Laurel Harris is at loose ends and in need of cash. Fortunately her best friend's older brother is a single dad and desperately needs a nanny. Or so she’s told. She doesn’t anticipate him being such a menacing, muscled, and undeniably gorgeous man…or that he has zero interest in hiring a nanny.
Micah Crane will do right by his young daughter, no matter the cost. And right now, that cost is juggling parenthood with long hours at his bar and working as an enforcer for a notorious crime boss. He doesn’t need another complication in his life, but the sweet, frustratingly opinionated little blonde hell-bent on caring for his daughter stirs his blood like no woman ever has.
All it takes is a moment of weakness to ignite the lust blazing between them. A moment that will unravel their self-control and unleash all of Micah’s darkest secrets...

Exclusive Excerpt:
Laurel opened her mouth, but before she could get anything out, Micah said, “How about I show you where you’ll be sleeping,” and walked out of the kitchen, gesturing for her to follow.
Silently, she trailed him, her suitcase bumping along the carpeted hallway. With each step, she catalogued what she knew of him so far.
Right foot. Raising six-year-old alone.
Left foot. Has taken some precautions in keeping Shaelynn safe, but might need some help with that.
Right foot. His backside is really, really nice to look at.
Left foot. I wonder if those muscles under his back pockets feel as hard as they look—
“It’s only a two-bedroom apartment,” he said, suddenly coming to a stop. The movement was too fast, and by the time her brain caught up, she was already slamming into the back of him. Right against the butt she’d been staring at.
Oh my god.
He twirled fast and clamped his huge hand around the top of her arm to steady her, those brown eyes ticking from her eyes to her forehead to her ears, mouth, over her shoulder, then back to her eyes. The force of his stare triggered a nervous giggle from her lips.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, forcing her gaze to stay with his even though the intensity was making her a little dizzy. “I didn’t expect you to stop right there.”
“We’re at the end of the hallway,” he said, unamused.
Right. But… She pointed to where the carpet dead ended. “I couldn’t see because of your…”
Butt. Not a chance she’d admit that.
Your entire ginormous body blocking my view. Yeah, not that either.
“Because of…um, you,” she said, swallowing down what she hoped was all of her embarrassment. Praise for A MOMENT OF WEAKNESS:
“...one of the hottest first kiss scenes I have ever read.” -Escape With a Book review blog “I loved the way this book was written. At times, it was almost like poetry. Brooklyn Skye knocked it out the park with this one.” -Wicked Good Reads
“Skye's creation was absolutely superb… a perfect blend of romance and eroticism with a dash of suspense thrown in to keep the pace running smoothly.” –Lunaland Books
“This book is a refreshing change from the run of the mill rich alpha guy falls for the beautiful girl that walks into his life and uncovers all his secrets. Micah is not rich. He is raising his six year old in a small two bedroom apartment. Trying to be a better parent than his dad was to him.” -Mollien for Alpha Book ClubBrooklyn Skye Bio:
Brooklyn Skye grew up in a small town where she quickly realized writing was an escape from small town life. Really, she’s just your average awkward girl who’s obsessed with words. She writes young adult, new adult, and romance fiction. You can follow her on Twitter as @brooklyn__skye, Instagram as @brooklynskyewrites, or visit her web site for updates, teasers, giveaways, and more. www.brooklyn-skye.com

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Welcome to this week's Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga`s Reviews. It features books I bought or received for review each week. It is about adding books to my book shelf whether it by physical, virtual or audio. Thanks for stopping by!

Over the past several weeks I have been purchasing audiobooks from Audible. Here are those purchases:

I recently finished Ride Steady which was great. My review will be up in the next 2 weeks as I am way behind in reviews. I have also listened to Every Last Breath and Crown of Midnight which were great as well. I am currently listening to Heir of Fire which so far I am liking more than Crown of Midnight.

I have been going through some things (reason for my lack of blogging) but I will be posting on a more consistent basis from now on :)

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

I am giving away (1) $15 Amazon Gift Card. This giveaway is international. Open to anyone 13 and over. The winner will be announced on the Rafflecopter widget and will also be emailed. Thanks for entering!a Rafflecopter giveaway